Saving Private Ryan
by MissOneDayAmericanDream
Summary: "On Captain Miller's boat was Private Rosie Parker,women who volunteered to be on the front lines as a medic went through basic and were specially trained with one particular weapon, Rosie's was a sniper rifle." An additional member of the squad.
1. Chapter 1

Saving Private Ryan

Disclaimer: I do not own the plot, the script or the characters from Saving Private Ryan. No infringement intended.

I own Private/Medic Rosie Parker.

I just wanted to say that I know this probably would never have happened, a woman on the frontlines but just humour me and see what you think please.

Summary: Saving Private Ryan with my own character, Private Rosie Parker as well.

An American flag blows high in the wind.

An old man walks through a WWII War Memorial Park with his family behind him. They stop and look up at the American and French flags blowing in unison. The man is tearful as he walks through hundreds of white cross graves, his family follows slowly behind him, giving him space. He collapses in front of one grave, crying. His family rush over.

"Dad?" a younger man asks, concerned. They put their arms around him and comfort him. With his family around him he looks up to the grave and remembers.


	2. Chapter 2

**Just want to say for anyone who doesn't know that Private Stanley Mellish has a nick name, it's Fish.**

June 6th 1944.

Dog Green Sector.

Omaha Beach.

American boats rushed against the waves in the harsh weather ready to storm the beach. Captain John H. Miller took a drink from his canteen with shaking hands; Sergeant Michael Horvath was next to him. Near the front of the boat a soldier was sick, at the sight of this Private Stanley Mellish threw up too. On each boat was a female medic, the females on the front lines were trained in combat even though there were few who made it through basic. On Captain Miller's boat was Private Rosie Parker, she had long, golden, mousy hair, she had most of it pinned up in a bun but a few strands were loose around her face. The women who volunteered to be on the front lines as a medic went through basic and were specially trained with one particular weapon, Rosie's was a sniper rifle.

"Clear the ramps! Thirty seconds! May God be with you!"

Captain Miller started giving commands, "Port side stick. Starboard side stick. Move fast and clear those murder holes! Keep those actions clear; I'll see you on the beach."

Bombing could already be heard; a few soldiers flinched as they got ready. Private Daniel Boone Jackson kissed the cross around his neck. The ramps were lowered and the shots came immediately, some didn't even make it off the boat. A bomb landed in the water right in front of them. A Nazi with a machine gun was firing from a high point on the beach. Men were falling everywhere.

Captain Miller began shouting "Over the side! Over the side!" and throwing men into the water.

Rosie jumped before he could push her; she was getting weighed down by her pack so she threw it off and came up for air. Men were even getting shot under the water. Rosie went back under; there was less of a threat there. One man drowned because he couldn't get his pack off. Miller then dragged Rosie out of the water and onto the beach. They made their way left along the beach, when they got further onto the beach the Captain stopped. Another bomb went off and blood splattered on their faces.

"What now, Sir?" Rosie screamed. He just looked at her. "I said what the hell do we do now, Sir?" She repeated.

"Captain Miller! Captain Miller!" Sergeant Horvath was shouting further up the beach.

"Sergeant Horvath! Move your men up the beach now!" He shouted back.

Horvath addressed the men around him, "Alright you guys, get on my ass and follow me!" They moved further up.

"What's the rallying point?" A soldier shouted.

"Anywhere but here!" Miller shouted back as they followed Horvath. "Move up to the sea wall!"

"Sir, I'm staying." Someone said.

"Clear the beach, make way for the others!" Miller replied.

"But this is all we got between us and the Almighty."

"You stay here, you're a dead man." Miller got up and Rosie followed him up the beach.

Miller, Rosie and a few other men made it to the sea wall.

"Who's in command here?" Miller asked.

"You are, Sir." A soldier laid next to him replied.

The Captain continued. "Sergeant Horvath!"

"Sir?"

"You recognise where we are?"

"Right where we're supposed to be but no one else is." Horvath replied.

"No one's where they're supposed to be." Rosie Parker stated.

Then Privates Adrian Caparzo, Richard Reiben and Mellish arrived next to them.

Horvath asked, "See anybody else?"

"Jackson but that's it!" Caparzo answered. "We also got Forbes back there with Wade. He's hurt so bad he's sprung a hundred leaks!"

A little further back, Medic Irwin Wade was trying to save a badly wounded soldier. "Let's move on to someone we can help." Another soldier tried to coax Wade away. He carried on working, when Rosie saw she tried to go to them to help but Captain Miller pulled her back down.

Mellish, Rosie, Miller and Horvath shouted, "Wade! Wade! Wade!"

Captain Miller said to Private Mellish, "Alright, get him off the beach."

"I got it." Mellish got up.

"We stopped the bleeding. We stopped the bleeding." Wade said. Then Forbes got shot in the head. "Fuck! Can't you give us a fucking chance you son of a bitch! You fucking cock sucker!"

Mellish grabbed him. "Wade! Wade, come on." They landed back next to Caparzo.

"Gather weapons and ammo!" Miller ordered and Horvath repeated.

They all rushed back to the beach and got their stuff then took it to Miller and Horvath at the sea wall. Then Private Jackson arrived next Reiben.

"Jackson here, Sir!"

Meanwhile Rosie and Wade were trying to help another shot soldier. He was screaming, "I'm gonna die!"

"You're not gonna die, you're not gonna die. You're fine, don't look at it." Rosie tried to calm him.

Miller and Horvath fired some Bangalore's towards the Nazi's to try and break through.

"Fire in the hole!"

After they hit, Horvath checked to see if it worked. "We're in business! Other side of the hole!" He ordered and everyone moved forward and took shelter behind another wall.

Miller used a mirror to look around the wall; he sees shooters at the top of the cliff. Horvath takes the mirror and sees a gap.

"It looks a little defilade over there but a perfect firing position if we could get some god damn armour over there." Horvath says.

"We gotta get this drawer open." Miller replies. "Adrian, Mellish lets get into the war! Grab some cover and put some fire on that crew." They move to a place where they can fire even though it's a bad angle.

"Alright you six." Miller points to six soldiers. "You're going over there" he points to the gap. "Get ready. Covering fire!"

Miller, Mellish, Horvath and Caparzo fire on the Germans to give the six soldiers some cover but they all get hit anyway. This happens another time.

Captain Miller calls to Private Jackson and Private Rosie Parker, highly skilled snipers. "Jackson? Parker?"

"Sir?"

"You see that impact crater there?"

"Yes, Sir."

"That should give you complete cover from machine gun fire. I want you to get in there and give me some fire."

Parker and Jackson get ready.

"Wait for my command." Miller orders.

Jackson kisses his cross then grabs Rosie's hand. Captain Miller jumps out from the wall in clear view of the Germans and shouts "Go!"

Jackson and Rosie run to the crater and make it unscathed and the Captain dives back behind the wall.

Horvath says to Miller, "Captain if your mother saw you do that she'd be very upset."

"I thought you were my mother."

In the crater Jackson and Parker where aiming their rifles.

Jackson started their ritual prayer. "Be not that far from me O Lord." Then shot one of the Germans.

Rosie carried on the prayer, "Oh my strength, haste to help me." And shot another down.

Once they had fallen Mellish, Miller, Caparzo and Horvath got up and began shooting down the perimeter.

"We're in business!" Horvath shouted for the second time and soldiers followed him over the wall and towards Rosie and Jackson.

The German perimeter immediately fell and they began retreating as the Americans swarmed them. They threw grenades' into the bunkers to kill anyone who was hiding. A few more Germans came out and were shot. They blew up the bunkers completely and when the Germans ran out burning someone shouted, "Don't shoot! Let them burn!"

Some Germans surrendered but were shot anyway. Some tried and failed to escape. Caparzo jumed into one of the trenches to gather weapons.

"Hey Fish, lookat this, a Hitler youth knife." Caparzo said.

Fish grabbed it and broke down trying not to cry. Caparzo looked sympathetically, Rosie put a hand on his shoulder. Horvath put some sand in a tin; he was collecting from the countries he fought in. With shaking hands Captain Miller took another drink from his canteen. Looking out at all the bodies on the beach and in the ocean Richard Reiben said, "it's quite a view."

"Yes it is, quite a view." Miller replied with sorrow in his eyes.

There was one body on the beach that stood out among the rest; this man had a name that would soon define the mission of Captain John H. Miller, Private Adrian Caparzo, Sergeant Michael Horvath, Private Daniel Boone Jackson, Private Stanley Mellish, Private and Medic Rosie Parker, Private Richard Reiben, Corporal Timothy Upham and Medic Irwin Wade.

His name was Ryan.


	3. Chapter 3

Back America, some women were doing their part in the war by writing letters to the families of deceased soldiers. One women had written three letters, only when she began the third letter did she realise that she was writing all three letters to one person, a Mrs. Ryan. Three of her sons had died and she would get the news of all three on the same day.

She informed the men in charge and they took it to the Colonel.

"Colonel, I've got something you should know about."

"Yes?"

Giving him the papers, he explained. "These two men died in Normandy. This one at Omaha Beach"

The Colonel read the name. "Sean Ryan."

"This man in Utah."

"Peter Ryan."

"And this man was killed last week in Nugini."

"Daniel Ryan." The Colonel read, understanding.

"The three men are brothers, Sir. I've just learned that this afternoon their mothers' going to be getting all three telegrams."

The Colonel sat down as the man carried on. "That's not all, there's a fourth brother, the youngest; he parachuted in with 101st right before the invasion. He's somewhere in Normandy, we don't know where."

"Is he alive?" The Colonel asked.

"We don't know."

The Colonel stood up and said, "Come with me." And they followed.

He took them to General George C. Marshall and told him the news.

"Damn it." The General stated.

"All four of them were in the same company in the 29th division but we split them up after the Telemann brothers died on the job." The Colonel explained.

"Any contact from the fourth son, James?"

"No, Sir. He was dropped about fifteen miles inland near Neuville."

A man that was with the General interrupted. "There is no way you can know where in the hell he was dropped. General there are reports that say the 101st are scattered all over the place. There've been drops all over Normandy. Now assuming Private Ryan even survived the jump, he could be anywhere. And Frankly, Sir, if we go sending some sort of rescue mission flat hitting through all sorts of German reinforcements, it'll be a suicide mission."

The General sighed and retrieved a piece of paper from a drawer behind him. "I have a letter here, written a long time a go to a Mrs. Bixby in Boston. Bear with me." He began to read the letter. "Dear Madam. I have been shown in the files of the war department a statement, the agent and General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously among a field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine and would attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the republic they died to save." The General sat down. "I pray that our heavenly father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost. The solemn pride must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. Yours very sincerely and respectfully, Abraham Lincoln."

All the men in the room were clearly affected.

The General broke the silence. "If the boy's alive, we are going to send somebody to find him and we are going to get him the hell out of there."


	4. Chapter 4

OMAHA BEACH

D-DAY PLUS THREE

"Miller, Charlie Company." Captain Miller told one of the soldiers that were outside one of the military tents.

"Go on in, Captain."

Miller explained what had happened on the beach to Lieutenant Colonel Anderson and when he finished, the Lieutenant gave him another assignment.

"I've got another assignment for you, came straight from the top."

After Miller had been given his orders he went to tell Sergeant Horvath.

"You and I are taking a squad over to Neuville on a public relations mission." Miller started.

"What? You, me and the squad?" Horvath asked.

"Some Private in 101st lost three brothers and he's got a ticket home."

"How come Neuville?"

"They think he's up there somewhere part of all those air born miss drops."

"It's not going to be easy trying to find one particular soldier in the middle of this god damn war."

"It's like a needle in a stack of needles." Miller joked.

"What about the company?" Horvath wondered.

"We take the pick of the litter and the rest get moved into Baker."

"Jesus Christ. They've took away your company?"

"It wasn't my company, it was the army's, or so they told me anyway." Miller said sarcastically. "We're taking Jackson, Wade, Parker, Beazley and Caparzo."

"Beazley's dead."

"Alright then, Mellish."

By this time they were stood with the rest of the group.

"We got anyone who speaks French?" Miller asked.

"Not that I know of." Horvath answered.

"What about Talbot?"

"Died this morning."

"Alright, I'm gonna go try to dig up another interpreter." Miller informed everyone.

After Miller had gone Caparzo asked, "What are we gonna do?" with a cigar in his mouth.

"You're going home wrapped in an American flag with a hunk of cheese in your ass, Caparzo, you smart ass. Now listen up." Horvath answered but was interrupted by Reiben.

"You like it in the ass!"

"I thought you liked it in the ass."

Meanwhile, Captain Miller had found out about a Corporal Timothy Upham who could speak French and German, he went to look for him near some pencil pushers.

As Miller approached one of them shouted "Attention!"

They all stood and saluted.

"As you were." Miller allowed. "I'm looking for a Corporal Timothy Upham."

"Yes. I'm Upham, Sir." A skinny, young man stood up.

"I understand you speak French and German?"

"Yes, Sir."

"How's your accent?"

"Uh, it's just a slight one in French but my German's clean, Sir."

"Very good. You've been reassigned to me, grab your gear." Miller ordered.

"Yes, Sir." Upham collected his things.

"We're goin to a place called Neuville."

"Sir, there are Germans in Neuville." Upham stated worriedly.

"That's what I understand, Corporal."

"Sir, there are a lot of Germans in Neuville."

"You have a problem with that, Corporal?" Miller asked seriously.

"No, Sir, it's just if you consider I've never been in combat, Sir. I mean I translate maps, that's all."

"I need someone who speaks French and German, my two guys were killed."

"Yes, Sir, it's just that I haven't handled a weapon since basic training, Sir."

"Did you fire the weapon in basic training?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Well then get your gear."

"Yes, Sir." Upham resumed collecting his things. "May I bring my type writer, Sir?" Upham asked while knocking things over, clumsily.

Miller held up a pencil and Upham put it down.

Upham brought a briefcase over.

"That a souvenir?" Miller asked.

"No, Sir." Upham put it back.

"Take your time, Corporal."

Then Upham was finally ready and they began walking back to the squad.

"You should look on the bright side of things, Corporal."

"Yes, Sir."

"One thing," Miller took some bags from Upham's hands and threw them. "You don't need to carry those."

Upham dropped his helmet.

"You'll need that."

"Yes, Sir." Upham picked it up.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey!" Mellish scolded when Upham tapped him on the shoulder. They were currently walking through French fields, making there way to Neuville.

"Hi." Upham replied.

"You want your head blown off you fancy little fuck." Mellish said. "Don't you ever fucking touch me with those little rat claws again. Get the fuck back in formation"

"Be nice, Fish." Rosie said.

Upham carried on annoying Mellish. "I was just wondering where you're from?"

Mellish looked at him as if to say 'did you not here me?' Upham took the hint and walked forward to Caparzo.

"Caparzo, is it?" Upham asked.

"Drop dead Corporal."

"Got ya."

"And another thing, every time you salute the Captain you make him a target for the Germans. So do us a favour and don't do it, especially when I'm standing next to him, coppice?" Caparzo warned.

"Coppice." Upham stuttered.

"Corporal, what's your book about?" Wade fell back to ask him.

Upham nearly hit him with his rifle.

"Watch your rifle."

"Actually, it's supposed to be about the bond of brother hood that develops between soldiers during war."

Wade, Mellish and Caparzo laughed.

"Brother Hood? What do you know about brother hood?" Caparzo asked. "Get a load of this guy, Fish."

"Why don't you ask the Captain where he's from?" Rosie said.

"Yeah ask the Captain, he'll tell you everything you want to know." Caparzo agreed.

Reiben asked the Captain something then, "You want to explain the math of this to me. I mean where's the sense in risking the lives of the nine of us to save one guy?"

"Anybody want to answer that?" Miller shouted.

"Reiben, think about the poor bastards mother." Wade pointed out.

"Hey Doc, I got a mother alright. I mean you got a mother so has everyone else, shit, I bet even the Captains got a mother." Reiben looked at the Captain. "Well, maybe not the Captain but the rest of us got mothers."

"There's not to reason why, there's but to do and die." Upham stated.

"La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, what the fuck is that supposed to mean, Corporal, that we're all going to die?" Mellish said.

Rosie snickered.

The Captain stepped in. "Upham's talking about our duty as soldiers."

"Yes, Sir."

"We all have orders we have to follow and that so proceeds everything including your mothers." The Captain finished.

"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir." Upham said.

"Even if you think the mission's fubar, Sir?" Reiben asked.

"Especially if you think the mission's fubar." Miller replied.

"What's fubar?" Upham asked.

"It's German." Mellish said, sniggering.

"Never heard of that." Upham pondered.

Jackson spoke then. "Sir, I have an opinion on this matter."

"By all means share it with the squad."

"Well from my way of thinking, Sir, this whole mission is a serious miscalculation of valuable military resources."

"Yeah, go on."

"It seems to me, Sir that God gave me a special gift; made me a fine instrument of warfare."

"Reiben, pay attention, now this is the way to gripe."

"What I mean by that, Sir is that if you were to put me or even Rosie and this here sniper rifle anywhere up to and including one mile of Hitler with a clear line of sight, Sir, back your bags fellas; war's over." Jackson finished.

"Amen." Rosie said.

"That's brilliant, pumpkin." Reiben mocked. "Hey, so Captain what about you? You don't gripe at all?"

"I don't gripe to you, Reiben. I'm a Captain, there's a chain of command; gripes go up, not down, always up. You gripe to me, I gripe to my superior officer, so on, so on, so on. I don't gripe to you; I don't gripe in front of you. You should know that as a ranger."

"I'm sorry, Sir but uh… lets say that you weren't a Captain or maybe I was a major; what would you say then?"

"In that case I'd say this is an excellent mission, Sir, with an extremely valuable objective, Sir, worthy of my best efforts, Sir. Moreover, I feel heartfelt sorrow for the mother of Private James Ryan and am willing to lay down my life and the lives of my men, especially you Reiben, to ease her suffering."

"He's good." Mellish commented.

"I love him." Caparzo replied.

Then the two made kissing noises at each other. Rosie shook her head at them.

As they got just outside of Neuville it started pouring rain. They began to run towards the town.

They spilt up on either side of a blown up gate at the entrance.

"Thunder!" Miller shouted.

"Flash!" Came a reply.

The Captain started giving orders. "Upham, over there. Reiben, you four go."

Reiben, Caparzo, Mellish and Upham ran into the town. Then Jackson, Horvath, Miller and Parker followed.

"You guys are a sight for sore eyes. How many are you?" A soldier said to Miller.

"Just nine of us, we're not your relief, sorry." Miller replied.

"What do you mean, Sir?"

"We're here for a Private Ryan."

"Who? Ryan, what for?"

"Is he here?"

"Well, I don't know. Maybe with a mixed unit on the other side of town. It's hard to get to; the Germans cut us right in two a couple of hours ago."

"What's his name again?"

"Ryan, James Ryan; dropped in with 101st."

"Get me a runner up here." The soldier spoke to a man crouched a few feet away.

"Runner!" He shouted.

"Come on." The soldier led Miller and the others to the rest of their group.

They were all now behind a wall with a hole in the middle. There was a voice over broadcasting saying "the statue of Liberty is kaput."

"The statue of Liberty is kaput?" Rosie repeated.

"That's disconcerting." Miller commented.

"Your father was circumcised by my rabbi you prick!" Mellish shouted. He and Caparzo were crouched behind a wheel barrow with fruit spilt around them. Caparzo was eating it.

"Cover!" A soldier shouted as the runner ran out into the square.

Caparzo jumped when the runner was shot down by the Germans, he ran over to Miller and looked over the wall. Rosie pulled him back down when they shot the runner again.

"This thing's a fucking animal!" He shouted.

"They single out the runners." The soldier from earlier told him.

"Well, why do they keep shooting him up like that?"

"As long as he has air in his lungs he carries the message; we would do the same." Miller told him.

"No we wouldn't!"

They realised that they wouldn't be able to get through that part of town so the soldier led them to a square which had pretty good cover on the left side.

"Reiben, Caparzo, short runs, high and low at the corners, keep it tight, be prepared for close contact." Miller ordered.

"Upham, you stay with Sergeant Horvath."

"I'll wear him like underwear, Captain." Horvath joked as Upham clung to him.

The rest headed towards the square.

"Parker, where's the Captain from?" Upham asked her.

"You figure that out and I'll give you a kiss." Rosie joked.

"No, you figure that one out, you get a nice prize." Reiben told him.

"300 bucks last I heard." Jackson walked past.

"Company's got a pool, five bucks gets you in." Mellish told him.

"Somebody must know where he's from, what he did for a living." Upham carried on.

"I've been with him years and I don't have a clue." Horvath told him.

"So, Parker, you don't know where the Captain went to school, where he grew up?"

"If I knew that I'd be up 300 dollars, Upham."

"The Captain didn't go to school; he was reassembled at OSC from spare body parts." Reiben joked.

"You got to pay attention to detail. I know exactly where he's from and exactly what he did 'cause I pay attention to detail." Caparzo said.

"Hey, Upham, careful you don't step in the bullshit." Jackson said.

They were at the square now.

"Thunder!" Someone shouted. "Thunder or we will fire on you!"

Miller looked around the wall and saw a little girl.

"Upham, tell them to show themselves."

"Montre vue! Montre vue!" Upham shouted and a family stepped out of a house that was half blown up, they were stood on the second floor.

"Ask them if they know where the Germans are."

"Eu sol les German?"

The man yelled something in French.

"He wants us to take the children." Upham said.

The man dangled a crying little girl.

"No no no, we can't take the kids."

Caparzo climbed up the rubble and grabbed the girl; she wouldn't stop crying so he gave her his rosemary beads on the way back down. "Upham how do you say it's okay in French?"

"Caparzo put the kid back!"

"Are you nuts? Listen to the Captain!"

Everyone was telling him to put the girl back.

"I can't she reminds me of my niece, Sir."

"Caparzo, get that kid back up there!" Miller shouted.

"Captain, the decent thing to do would be at least take her down the road to the next town."

"We're not here to do the decent thing!" Miller grabbed the girl. "We're here to follow fucking orders! Parker, take this god damn kid!"

As Rosie grabbed the child Caparzo was shot.

"Cover!"

"Carpy!" Rosie screamed. She was about to go to him, then remembered the child and ducked behind a car with Upham, Miller and Horvath.

Caparzo leaned on a piano and tried to push himself up to walk but fell. It was still raining and the water around him turned red. Jackson and Upham were behind some rubble and when Caparzo fell, Jackson dragged Upham to the car where the Captain was.

"God damn it! Where'd that come from?"

"He was on the ground 'fore we heard the shot!" Jackson shouted.

"I didn't see it." Rosie said to him while looking for where it might have come from. There was a church tower about a mile away. "That's where we'd be." She pointed it out to Jackson.

The girl was with Upham and Horvath.

"450 yards, Captain, maybe a shade under. I wouldn't venture out there fellas; this sniper's got talent!" Jackson said while he and Rosie got their rifles ready.

Parker and Jackson made their way around the car to get a better aim at the tower.

"You shoot the bastard and I'll cover you." Rosie said.

"Sounds like a plan." He replied in his southern twang.

"We'll get you outta this, Carpy." Rosie said as they passed him.

"Captain!"

"Hold on, Caparzo." Miller said while watching Rosie and Jackson.

"Help me up, I can walk."

"Caparzo, stay still!" Wade shouted.

Rosie and Jackson had got behind a pile of rubble facing the tower now. Jackson aimed his rifle at the tower and Rosie looked around for any other shooters.

"Fish!" Caparzo shouted.

"Captain! Can you see him from there? How is he?" Wade shouted.

"Wade, you stay put!" Miller ordered.

"Where's he shot, Captain?" Wade tried to get up put was pulled down by another soldier.

"Stay down! What's the matter with you? Who's gonna take care of you if you get hit huh?"

"Fish, come over here." Caparzo begged.

"Carpy, put your head down. They'll get you, put your head down."

Caparzo took a letter from his pocket and held it up.

Jackson put his rifle through the rubble and started off the ritual prayer. "Oh my God, trust in thee. Let me not be ashamed."

Rosie finished it. "Let not mine enemies triumph over me."

The German sniper had not seen them yet. He looked at Caparzo holding the letter up.

"Captain. Captain. It's a letter."

"Carpy, your gonna send it yourself, put it down!" Mellish yelled frantically. "I see it. Carpy, I see it."

"It's to my dad. It's got blood on it, Fish."

The sniper aimed again; first at Caparzo, then the car where Miller was, then he saw Rosie, she was leaning back so he aimed right for her head. He saw something flash just to the right of her.

Jackson had shot him right through the eye.

Caparzo had gone still.

Rosie signalled to Mellish that they'd got him.

Mellish told everyone. "We got him, stay down!"

Jackson motioned for everyone to move forward. Everyone got up at once and the little girl ran back to her family. Wade and Parker ran straight to Caparzo but there was nothing they could do; he was already gone. The squad all stood round Caparzo.

"That's why we can't take children." Miller stated and ripped his tag off.

Wade took Caparzo's letter and covered him with a blanket.

"Fuck, Ryan." Reiben said and walked off.


	6. Chapter 6

They made it to the other side of town. The soldier in charge looked round the corner of a building to see if the coast was clear; he saw a gun pointing out from a window. "Thunder!" He shouted.

"Flash! Come on in."

They all made there way around the corner and looked in the window.

"We're looking for Captain, Hamill." Miller said.

"He's somewhere on the other side of that square." The soldier replied and pointed to a little square. It was more like a room; it had four brick walls around it but no roof. There was some rubble on one side. "Be careful, watch out for snipers." The soldier warned as Miller walked towards it. Before walking in he signalled for the squad to follow him. He walked in and looked up and around to make sure there were no Germans. The squad followed. Someone sat on some of the rubble and knocked a beam of wood into one of the walls. It collapsed to reveal a group of German soldiers. Immediately, everyone on both sides aimed there guns and began shouting over each other.

"Drop your weapons! Drop your weapons!" Horvath was shouting.

"Drop 'em now!" Jackson.

"Drop those god damn weapons! I'll shoot you! I'll shoot you!" Reiben.

"Drop, drop, drop 'em!" Mellish.

"Drop 'em now!" Jackson again.

Upham was shouting something in German.

"Drop 'em!" Parker.

Then suddenly all the Germans were shot and it wasn't by the squad.

"Clear up!" Someone shouted above them.

"Clear down!" A soldier on the bottom replied.

Then Captain Hamill came down some stairs. "Fred Hamill, Pathfinders, 101st."

"John Miller, 2nd Rangers." They shook hands. "Thank you. We're here looking for a Private James Ryan; he's part of your outfit. Any chance you policed him up at all?"

They began walking through the town. "How was the road in?" Hamill asked.

"Scenic." Miller replied. "We lost most of our ammo."

"Not to mention one of our men." Mellish added.

"Lieutenant, redeploy that bazooka to the right side of the road and get Ryan up here." Hamill ordered.

"Yes, Sir, Ryan, front and centre!" The soldier shouted.

"Ryan!" Another one shouted further down the road.

A soldier then came running down the road. "Here comes our boy." Reiben said to Rosie.

Ryan ran straight through them all without even glancing at them.

"Told you he was an asshole." Reiben said.

"Reiben, he's about to find out that his brother's are dead and besides, he doesn't even know who we are." Rosie replied.

"Sir, Private Ryan reporting as ordered." He stood in front of Hamill.

"At ease. Captain Miller, 2nd Rangers; he wants a word with you."

"Take a knee." Miller said as he sat in front of Ryan.

Ryan took his helmet off and knelt down.

"Private, I'm afraid I have some bad news for you. Well there isn't really any easy way to say this so I'll uh, I'll just say it. Your brothers are dead. We have orders to come get you, you're going home."

Ryan looked devastated. Hamill put a hand on his shoulder. After a long silence Ryan cryed, "Oh my God, my brothers' are dead. I was gonna take them fishing when I got home."

Upham felt bad for Ryan and after glancing at him, looked at his feet. Mellish looked away too, Wade just stared at the guy with a sympathetic look on his face.

"I'm so sorry, James" Hamill comforted.

"How did they die?" Ryan asked, still crying.

"They were killed in action." Miller told him.

"It can't be. My brothers' are still in grammer school."

"You're James Ryan?" Miller asked.

"Yeah."

"James Frances Ryan from Iowa?"

"James Fredrick Ryan, Minnesota." He confirmed. "Well, does that mean that my brothers' are okay?"

Miller sighed. "Yeah, I'm sure they're fine."

"You sure that they're okay though?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, we're looking for a different Private Ryan; this is just a big foul up." Miller said to Hamill, annoyed and stood up. "Sorry for the trouble."

"So where's our Ryan?" Horvath asked.

"I don't know."

"What unit's your guy in?" Hamill asked.

"Baker Company 506."

"We got a guy with a broken foot in 506."

After speaking to the guy with the broken foot, they found out the rallying point of Baker Company and decided to head there.

It was starting to get dark when Miller told Hamil. "My men are beat. We'll rest up here for about three hours and pull out after dark. Got anything left in this town like a three star hotel? Something with clean sheets, soft pillows and room service?"

"How about a nice, comfy church?"

"We'll take that."

"We sure as hell could use you around here but I understand what you're doing."

"You do?" Miller laughed.

"Yeah; I got a couple of brothers myself."

"Oh."

"Good luck."

"Thank you."

"No I mean it, find him, and get him home."

They were in the church now. Jackson was asleep; Horvath and Miller were off talking quietly at the other side of the room.

Miller's hand started to shake.

"What's with your hand?" Horvath asked.

"I don't know. It started in Portsmouth and it comes and goes."

"You may have to get yourself a new line of work; this one doesn't seem to agree with you anymore."

Miller started laughing.

"What?" Horvath asked.

"What was the name of that kid who was always walking around on his hands' and always singing that song?"

Horvath started laughing too. "Vechio."

"He was a goofy kid."

"Remember he used to paint a V on everyone's jacket? For Vechio, for victory."

"Vechio, yeah. Caparzo." Miller whispered and they both sobered up. "When you end up killing one of your men you tell yourself it was to save the lives of ten, maybe a hundered others, maybe a thousand. Do you know how many men I've lost under my command?"

"How many?"

"Ninety-four. But that means I've saved the lives of ten times that many doesn't it? Maybe even twenty, right? And that's how simple it is. That's how you rationalise the choice betweent the mission and the men."

"Except this time the mission is a man."

"This Ryan better be worth it; he'd better go home and cure some disease or invent the everlasting light bulb or something. The truth is I wouldn't trade ten Ryans for one Vechio or one Caparzo."

"Amen." Horvath whispered.

"We're gonna move out in two hours. Why don't you get some sleep?" Miller asked.

At the other side of the church the guys were talking. Jackson was fast asleep.

"I don't know how he does it." Reiben said looking at Jackson.

"What's that?" Mellish asked.

"Falls asleep like that. I mean look at him; the guy's lights out before his head hits the pack.

"Clear conscience." Mellish said.

"Yeah, what's that saying? If God's on our side, who the hell could be on theirs'?" Reiben said.

"If God be for us, who could be against us?" Upham corrected.

"Yeah what I said."

"The trick to falling asleep was trying to stay awake." Wade spoke. He was copying Caparzo's letter.

"How'd you figure?" Rosie asked.

"When my mother was an intern she used to work late through the night so the only time that we ever got to talk about anything was when she got home. I used to lay in my bed and try to stay awake as long as I could but it never used to work 'cause the harder I tried, the faster I'd fall asleep." Wade told them, smiling.

"Yeah well, that wouldn't of happened in my house, my mother shook me awake and chatted me up 'till dawn." Reiben said.

"Probably the only time she could get a word in." Mellish laughed.

"I used to pretend to be asleep." Wade said sorrowfully. "She would stand in the doorway looking at me and I'd just keep my eyes shut. I knew she just wanted to find out about my day 'cause she came home early just to talk to me. And I still wouldn't move, I'd just pretend to be asleep. I don't know why I did that."

"So what about you, Parker. What's your family like?" Mellish asked.

"Me? Well, I got three brothers'; one older and two younger, and a little sister."

"What about your parents?"

"My parents don't approve of me doing this; they say it's not ladylike to be going off to war, even though my brother and my father are over here somewhere."

"Where're you from?" Upham asked.

"Chicago."

Miller came over then. "We're moving out in two hours, you should all get some sleep."


End file.
